Pat Burgener Will Now Ride For Brazil

The FIS Council approved Burgener’s change of nation application on Friday, June 13, 2025. Swiss-Ski had already approved the change in advance. 

It’s not terribly uncommon to see riders switch the country they ride for later in their career. Most recently, Louie Vito switched allegiances from the United States - who he rode to a fifth place finish in the Olympics with in 2010 - to Italy, with whom he competed for in the 2022 Olympics.

Burgener won a bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships in Sierra Nevada, and 2019 in Park City, Utah. He won the 2025 European Cup Premium halfpipe contest at Laax back in March, and finished in seventh place at the Calgary Snow Rodeo. He also finished in seventh at the World Championships in Engadin, Switzerland in March.

Burgener finished the 2024-2025 season in 20^th place in the FIS snowboard points list. The 31-year-old is known for both his fun-loving personality and his commitment to being a musician, in addition to his career as a professional snowboarder. He went viral online several times for his antics in the airport and around the Olympic village. Before the 2022 contest, he was smiling and high-fiving everyone around him.

“I was like, this is the Olympics, I just want to have so much freaking fun!” he told Olympics.com.

The next Winter Olympics will take place from February 6, through February 22, 2026 in Milano and Cortina, Italy. Snowboard Big Air qualifiers will technically start a day before the opening ceremony on February 5, 2026. Snowboard halfpipe qualifiers start on February 11, 2025, on what is technically day 5 of the games.

Riders who have not yet clinched a spot in the Olympics will need to do so in FIS-sanctioned events leading up to the Games.